Audit  Audit of the Berkshire Community College

In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of Berkshire Community College (BCC) for the period March 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.

In this performance audit, we reviewed financial activity from federal funding provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, enacted by Congress on March 27, 2020; the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), enacted on December 27, 2020; and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, enacted on March 11, 2021. BCC received grant funding under two components of the CARES Act’s Education Stabilization Fund: direct funding from the United States Department of Education (US DOE), provided through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF),¹ and funding from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (MDHE), allocated through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund. The purpose of our audit was to determine whether BCC administered the CARES Act, CRRSAA, and ARP Act funding it received in accordance with the criteria established by US DOE and MDHE, as well as with its own student grant distribution method (see “Appendix”).

We also determined whether BCC complied with the Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth’s guidance by updating its internal control plan to address risks related to the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In addition, we determined whether BCC personnel who had access to COVID-19 funding in BCC’s Colleague² system completed cybersecurity awareness training in accordance with Sections 6.2.3 and 6.2.4 of the state Executive Office of Technology Services and Security’s (EOTSS’s) Information Security Risk Management Standard IS.010.

Below is a summary of our findings and recommendations, with links to each page listed.

A PDF Copy of the Audit of Berkshire Community College is avilable here.

1.    The HEERF consists of three separate grants related to the 2019 coronavirus pandemic emergency that were directly funded from US DOE under the CARES Act (HEERF I), CRRSAA (HEERF II), and ARP Act (HEERF III).

2.    Colleague is the database system for BCC’s administrative activities, accounting, and student records.